Photo of Nick Brace from cruathletics.com
BELTON, Texas- When the football season rolls around this fall, Nick Brace will no longer be a graduate assistant on the sidelines. He will be a full-time assistant coach.
UMHB head coach Pete Fredenburg announced Brace’s promotion on Monday morning in a press release. Brace will coach the defensive tackles as well as serve as the JV team’s head coach. He takes over for Landon Sawyer, who coached the running backs and JV team during the spring.
“Nick has really impressed us with his work with our defensive tackles,” Fredenburg said in the press release. “He has been so valuable to us as a graduate and part-time assistant coach and he loves this university and this football program. We are excited to have the opportunity to bring him onto our staff in a full-time role.”
Brace returned to UMHB for the spring season, having spent the fall of 2020 at the University of Albany, where he was a defensive assistant. Previously, he was on staff at UMHB during the team’s three seasons from 2017-2019, and has been a part of four ASC championship teams while in Belton.
He comes with an extensive resume, despite having graduated just nine years ago from St. John Fisher College, where he played linebacker. His coaching stops include Methodist University, St. John Fisher College, the University of Buffalo and Mansfield University.
The Cru open the 2021 season on Sept. 4 in a home contest against Simpson College. Brace’s first game as the UMHB JV head coach comes two days later on Sept. 6, when the Crusaders travel to Abilene and face Hardin-Simmons. The JV is set to play a nine game schedule in the fall, with the last seven being played in Belton.
